Community Education

UCAS code: L540

Here's what University of the West of Scotland says about its Community Education course.

OVERVIEW

Discover what it means to become a professionally qualified community educator with UWS’s BA (Hons) community education degree. This programme is perfect for anyone interested in working with young people, adults and communities, to engage in learning about how to live the best life possible and to challenge discrimination and all forms of injustice.Teaching, learning and assessment are underpinned by theories and practices relating to youth and community work, equality and social justice, wellbeing and community empowerment.

PROGRAMME HIGHLIGHTS

• This programme is designed for those already involved or interested in working with people in communities to promote learning for life and social change. • 40% of learning is achieved in practice based placements that provide experiential learning in community education settings. • This programme is approved by the Community Learning and Development Standards Council for Scotland and is recognised as a lead practitioner qualification.

CAREERS

As a BA (Hons) Community Education graduate, you’ll find employment opportunities in urban, rural and international locations. As a practitioner or manager within youth work, adulteducation and community development you will find interesting jobs in the community, voluntary and statutory sectors. Graduates from this programme have gone on to work in: • Community and school-based youth work • Lifelong and family learning • Literacy work and TESOL • Faith-based and rural work • Employability • Community development and capacity building • Issue-based practice such as climate change and health/ wellbeing • Charitable trusts • FE Colleges and Higher Education • Campaigning for human rights, equality and social justice

Year one You will be introduced to key theories in education, sociology and psychology. You are also introduced to the CLD competences as a foundation for Personal and Professional Development Planning (PDP).You will develop an understanding of social theory in relation to power and community contexts and will be introduced to critical pedagogy. You will explore ideas that can be used to enhance competence in group work and communication skills. Academic practice is embedded in all modules and students will learn one language and also take a practice learning module that is focused on building and maintaining relationships. Year two You will research the core domains of practice and strategies for participation and inclusion at local and international levels. You will examine and consider how these can be applied in a range of contexts. You will also undertake a practice learning module focusing on project and community leadership. Year three You will continue your studies of critical pedagogy and its purpose in creating emancipatory practice for equality and social justice. You will develop an understanding of the tensions in managing people and resources and will learn about practice-based research. In trimester two, you will further develop your CLD competences by completing a capstone project within a practice learning placement.Completion of the capstone project will involve developing and evaluating a specific piece of practice. You will evaluate your capstone project and present an artefact (such as a film, training pack or weblog) that can be used to show how the capstone project impacted on (a) your development of competences and (b) the CEd/CLD context of the practice project. Year four In the final year, you will develop your emerging professional identity further by studying the implications of social policy on CLD practice. Alongside Childhood Studies, you will develop more nuanced and critical understanding of inter-professional practices. You will also carry out a research dissertation through professional enquiry linked to practice learning.Learn a Language (optional) This course also gives you the option of taking a language module, which can count towards your degree. These modules cover multiple languages and range from absolute beginner to near-native speaker level.

Our learning and teaching approaches model CLD values and practices by applying an ethical and emancipatory purpose to a range of contemporary, historical and theoretical perspectives and teaching methods. Our use of alternative, visual and participatory methods engages students in the kind of informal and critical practices that students will use to engage learners in their own practice situations. Over 50% of our assessments involve practical or practice based tasks (40% of learning is achieved in practice-based placements that provide experiential learning in community education settings) and there are no formal exams in this degree.